Vanity's Boys
by that.alli.girl
Summary: One would be a traitor, another betrayed, one would be misjudged, and the last would be cursed to loneliness. But in the year of 1977, they were all simply teenage boys and this is where their story begins…
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Vanity's Boys

**Author:** Allison  
**  
Rating:** Teen_-ish_.

**Era:** Marauder's

**Summary:** One would be a traitor, another betrayed, one would be misjudged, and the last would be cursed to loneliness. But in the year of 1977, they were all simply teenage boys and this is where their story begins…

**Author's Note:** Hello and welcome to my fic.

This fic is meant to tell a little about the famous four boys in their seventh year of Hogwarts in a somewhat _realistic_ manner. James isn't always romantic. Sirius isn't always smooth. Remus isn't always a good boy. Peter might have been a good friend at one point in time. That said, I might also take the liberty of twitching a few details such as dates and happenings a bit.

Constructive criticism is my favorite thing in the world. Provide it as often as you can. I'm not promising I'll agree or anything but I am promising I'll take it into deep consideration and thank you whole heartedly.

Thank you and I hope you enjoy.

_-Alli_


	2. Train Ride

Train Ride.

Remus Lupin seldom disagreed. It just wasn't in his nature to do so. If you believed the stars were nothing but large crystals hanging in the sky, he would say the poetic sound of it was beautiful. If you said he was a rotten, ignorant fool, he'd smile and say 'sometimes.' Not necessarily a 'push over' as his best friends and possibly worst critics, often stated good-naturedly, but a fanatic of peace and a believer of open-mindness.

However, sitting in the compartment where Remus along with his three best friends travelled, you would've had a hard time believing this. The brown hair boy was silent, it is true, but it took only a step into the atmosphere and one would recognize that the word angry felt short. His eyes were set on the moving trees outside and his lips were pursed together tightly. Any word from the other three boys only caused him to enforce those two actions even more: look straighter on, purse even deeper.

"Moony, mate. Don't be pissy," said the jet-black hair boy. He was obviously suffering but he offered a peaceful smile. "You know that would ruin my reputation-"

"Hmph!" said Remus. He turned for a second to answer the boy's words and then, as if the sight of him was too much, quickly turned back to the window with another, "Hmph!"

"Will you all quit it?" said a third boy. He was the only one smiling as if all this was a good joke. "Wormtail's going to pee on himself with so much tension in the room."

"Am not!" said the blonde boy, sticking out his tongue. "I agree with Remus, by the way. Prongs, I understand where you're coming from and in my opinion that Lily girl isn't so much fun to be around but you're _Head Boy!_ You ought to be out there with here in the Prefect's compartment, helping her out. I mean… it's only the right thing to do."

"Traitor," said James, narrowing his eyes. "Let's see who helps you when Snape's following you in the darkness of the night..."

"Let's see who helps you when you're failing all your subjects," mouthed Peter, jerking his thumb towards Remus.

"So much for wanting Lily to change her mind about you," said Remus.

As if a spell had been set loose, the compartment suddenly fell silent. Peter look nervously at James, who was looking down at his intertwining fingers and Sirius whistled loudly in a manner that clearly said: _Low blow._

James ran his hand over his hair twice, making it a better mess than it was before, before speaking. "I didn't ask to be Head Boy. I'm standing up for my rights as a student of Hogwarts. I have the right to break rules. I have the right to spend my last year making memories with my friends, not rules with a bunch of tight-butts. I have a right to be myself and not the person society wants me to be!"

"Amen, my brother!" Sirius gave him the grin a father gives his son after winning his first big quidditch match. "That speech will live forever as the voice of all who-"

"-are a bunch of cowards," provided Remus raising a lazy eyebrow. "You're not standing up for anything. You're scared of making a fool of yourself in front of Lily. You rather have her hate you for being a pig that doesn't live up to his responsibilities rather than having her see through your insecurities and lack of abilities."

"I don't have lack of abilities," said James and the three boys made a spectacle out of laughing at Remus. "I mean… I'm scared silly of Lily Evans. I'm not one to lie about it. But I've never once proven myself unworthy of anything."

"Exactly," said Remus as if his point had been proven and when the boys gave him a look that clearly said that nothing had been understood, he went on. "You don't have lack of abilities _that you know of_. You have never proven unworthy of something because you've never been put to test. Anyone can fly around in a broom, Potter boy. But it takes a real leader to sit with a bunch of people he doesn't like and make a difference for the school. I guess we all have our fears after all," he finished with a sigh.

"I have no fears."

Remus shrugged, looking at his friend with pity. "It's okay. We'll keep your secret safe."

"I am not afraid." He looked at Peter and Sirius for support but they offered none. Peter was looking at Remus as if he had just supplied the world with a whole new set of possibilities and Sirius was looking at James with nothing but sincere curiosity. "I'll show you! _I'll show all of you_!"

And with that dramatic display of determination, James Potter marched out of the compartment and towards the Prefects'.

Sirius finally smiled. "You, my friend, are a true master of manipulation."

Remus returned the smile. His whole manner was suddenly soft and gentle again. "Thank you. Thank you." He gave a small bow of his head as if accepting an award. "I couldn't have done it without the help of friends…"

&&

"So that's it," said Lily, closing the booklet she had written in the summer. Although the prefects' compartment had been designed to let them socialize and introduce one another to each other before the start of the year, Lily had decided it was important to "briefly view" important topics for the year.

"My God," said James. "Was that _thing_," he eyed the pile of sheets that had just been read out loud, "really necessarily?"

"So just keep an eye for the first years and I'll see you all a week from tomorrow." She smiled at them, ignoring James' remark. "Thank you."

"Can we please go sit with our friends?" said Claire Walter, a blonde sixth year. "We only have about half an hour until we arrive…"

"Um," said Lily, "of course. Sure. Don't forget about the meeting!" but by the then the compartment had been mostly emptied.

James waited until a shy fifth year boy stepped out of the compartment, leaving them alone, to speak. "My advice? Don't be such a hard head."

Lily narrowed her eyes. "Excuse me?"

"Seriously, Lils-"

"Lily."

"-you're pretending that being Head Girl is going to allow you make the world this wonderful place where little boogers can read in peace and nasty bullys will learn their lesson. But not everything is black and white."

"It's not about black and white." Lily stood up, neatly smoothing out her skirt. "It's about right and wrong."

"Maybe it is that simple. Or maybe there are good people who do bad things and bad people who do good things.

"Example of the former would be Dumbledore making you Head Boy?"

"Nice to see your sense of humor."

"Potter." She dropped her sneer like a warrior raising a white flag. "Will you please be a good boy? This is more important to me than you can even begin to imagine. In fact, we'll compromise. You can keep doing you're little jokes with your friends and I won't interfere and you won't interrupt meetings with sarcastic remarks or abuse your position."

"One more thing," said James carefully. "Once a month, my friends and I have a midnight appointment at Hogsmeade. Since we'll be sharing midnight patrols and you're a very clever girl, I know you'll suspect-"

"Nothing at all." She promised.

"Look at you! Making compromises with rule breakers! I'm changing you already. In the name of Merlin, I'm going to change your world, Lils." He winked. "You won't even realize it until you're head over heels for me."

"Until then… It's _Lily_, Potter."

James smiled. "Lily Potter. I like the ring to that as well."


End file.
